Rotary printing presses are in common use today, especially in the newspaper business. Such presses employ rotating cylinders which were originally designed for use with metal stereotype plates having relatively thick dimensions. Accordingly, with the advent of photo composition and the flexible, relatively thin plates which are now being employed rather than the metal stereotype plates, the need has arisen for means to secure the thin flexible plates to the rotating cylinders of a press. A description of the various attempts employed to attach the thin plates to rotary press cylinders is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,395. It is the principal objective of the present invention to provide an improved arrangement for quickly and securely mounting relatively thin flexible printing plates on the printing cylinder of a rotary printing press designed for stereotype plates.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved clamping saddle for mounting relatively thin flexible printing plates to the printing cylinder of a rotary printing press which securely locks the printing plate in an operative position when the printing cylinder is rotated and which allows ready removal of the printing plate without special tools being required to effectuate the removal.